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Scott's Chemistry Wiki

The Hindenburg In 1937 at an airstrip in New York, the largest blimp of its time, the Hindenburg caught fire and burned to the ground in 34 seconds flat. Throughout the years many explanations for this explosive disaster have been put forth each more unrealistic than the last. By now most scientists have agreed upon an explanation that seems somewhat believable, the Hindenburg’s outer coating, along with its hydrogen filled lift system failed catastrophically when the Hindenburg caught on fire either through lightning strike or through sabotage. Either way, now a days it seems to be a bit ridiculous to have coated the outside of a hydrogen filled blimp with a compound that in the right ratio could make thermite (Fe2O3 + 2Al -->→ 2Fe + Al2O3 + heat), or rocket fuel. As Mythbusters proved, the ratio between the iron oxide and aluminum on the Hindenburg’s outer shell, while not exactly thermite, had a similar although relatively weaker response to that of if the builder had coated the ship with rocket fuel.

media type="youtube" key="cCT6zWzQcq4" height="385" width="480" "MythBusters Hindenburg Mystery Part 5." 2009. Retrieved from []

The Sodium Acetate Heat Pad The sodium acetate heat pad is a heat pad that functions through the principal of super cooling. This is when an object chemical is taken in a liquid state and is put to such a temperature that usually it would freeze, but because the chemical has nothing to “freeze” around it will remain a liquid until a point when it is disturbed. When it is disturbed, the substance will quickly jump back up to its “freezing” temperature and solidify into a solid. In the case of sodium acetate, when the metal disk is bent, this forces some of the sodium acetate to solidify, making the rest of the sodium acetate solidify as well, and because this chemical solidifies at 54ºC the entire hot pack will heat up to that temperature allowing the heat to warm up cold hands.

//How Stuff Works "Sodium Acetate Heat Pads"//. 2008. Retrieved from []

Potassium chlorate

Potassium chlorate is an ionic compound comprised of potassium, chlorine and oxygen. This oxidizing agent is used throughout the industrial sector to many ends. One such end is to create oxygen. When potassium chlorate is heated to its melting point it will react violently with a variety of other chemicals, including gummy bears as this video demonstrates. During this reaction, the potassium chlorate disintegrates releasing oxygen gas into the air. For this reason, this product has been used in air planes, multiple space expeditions, and is suspected to have caused the fire in the Mir space station. media type="youtube" key="txkRCIPSsjM" height="385" width="480"

Potassium Gummy Bear. 2007., Retrieved from [] //Top 10 Amazing Chemisty Experiments//. 2008. Retrieved from []

Hydrogen Peroxide Hydrogen Peroxide, or H2O2, is a household chemical that has multiple purposes. One of these purposes is to clean cuts and scrapes suffered throughout the day. If you have ever used hydrogen peroxide you know that when you pour it into a cut, it bubbles. Why does this happen? This happens because of a chemical reaction between the hydrogen peroxide and an enzyme called catalase. When the two react the hydrogen peroxide loses an oxygen molecule creating oxygen and H2O. If you want learn more about the uses of hydrogen peroxide check out this video clip at.[] Here is another video demonstrating the amazing reaction between hydrogen peroxide and sodium iodide. media type="youtube" key="kjKyEdrVXJA" height="385" width="480"

//How Stuff Works "Why Hydrogen Peroxide Foams//" Retrieved from []

Why does salt melt ice? As far as I can remember, if there was a problem of there being ice on a driveway, or on a walkway, the first piece of advice one would hear would be to toss so salt upon it, and usually it would work. Why does tossing salt onto ice help to get rid of the ice? Putting salt onto the icy ground does not actually melt the ice. What happens is that the salt dissolves into the thin layer of water that usually coats the ice, and decreases the temperature that it takes for the water to freeze, forcing the water to remain a liquid at much colder temperatures. This prevents more ice from forming as well as reducing the amount of ice that is in existence on the ground. An interesting point is that table salt, or Sodium chloride is not the most effective salt to use, magnesium chloride, or calcium chloride (a type of salt that is used on roadways) would be a more effective choice.



//Why Does Salt Melt Ice?.// 2010. Retrieved from []

Quicksilver


What is quicksilver? Is it a clothing company, a piece of software, or is it something more? Quicksilver is the name that the English speaking world gave mercury around the 11th century. One reason mercury got this name for its silvery color and its liquid form. A rough translation of quicksilver would be "living silver" for its ability to move as it is a liquid. Another reason was that mercury resembled silver so much people called it liquid silver. Mercury is a very unique element compared to other metals. Mercury is known to have a very low melting point compared to other transition metals this is due to mercury's electron configuration. Because its outer d orbital is filled, mercury demonstrates similar reactions to that of noble gases. This means that mercury dislikes bonding and so only makes weak bonds which are easily broken, this contributes to mercury's low melting point. //Mercury//. Retrieved from []

= Morphine =

One advancement in medicine that opened the door to medicine as we now it today is morphine. Morphine is an analgesic from the opoid family (The opoid drugs are a group of pain killing drugs that were derived from the opium poppy.) that was discovered in the early 19th century. Before morphine was created the world of medicine was greatly lacking, any major surgery was deemed impossible as the doctors had no way of sedating the patients and often enough the patients would die from even the smallest surgeries. With the extraction of morphine from the opium poppy (and the invention of the hypodermic needle) the world of medicine was forever changed. Morphine is the most prominent of the 24 alkaloids in the opium poppy, and its chemical makeup is (C 17 H 19 NO 3).



//Morphine Information From Drugs.com//. 2009 Retieved from []

= Chlorine = Every day millions of people in Canada alone drink water that has been treated with chlorine, a toxic yellowish gas. When the chlorine is added to the water at low levels (0.2to 1mg/litre), it will kill off any bacteria and other germs in the water, eventually purifying the water. This is because there is very little molecular chlorine in the water. When the chlorine is in water, it reacts to form hypochlorous acid, and hypochlorites. At such low levels the chlorine in the water will not have the potency to kill a human but with longer exposures can cause skin irritation and bloodshot eyes. The larger the amount of chlorine in the water, the greater these effects will become.

//WebElements Periodic Table Chlorine//. 2010. Retieved from []

**Alkaline Metals**

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you mixed an Alkaline metal with water? (Something any chemistry teacher would advise you not to do at home.) Well I was curious so one day I found a video from the British show Brainiac that seemed to demonstrate the potency of the alkaline metals. As it turned out the explosions that the show demonstrated for the metals rubidium and caesium were faked, they had substituted the metals in the bathtub for hand grenades. Because of this mythbusters did a show on the alkali metals to see how reactive they really are.

media type="youtube" key="hqbwPxZsgHs" height="385" width="640"

The alkaline metals are a group or family of metals that have similar properties. On the periodic table they take up the first column or the A1 column. This means that they have only one electron in their valence or out most orbital. They are known to be highly reactive due to their nature to lose their one valence electron. The alkaline metals want to lose this electron because if they do suddenly their electron configuration becomes the same as that of the noble gas that is one period, or row above them. Hydrogen, which is placed in the group A1 is not an alkaline metal, it is a highly reactive gas that has but one electron, and does not usually demonstrate the same characteristics as the others.

//Mythbusters Threequal Alkaline Metals//**. Retieved from** [|**http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqbwPxZsgHs**] ​

= The Chemistry of Polymers (Making Nylon) =

media type="youtube" key="7nCfbZwGWK8" height="385" width="480"

Polymers are all around use, from the nylon backpack in your closet, to the nylon rope you don’t know why you have. They are every day items like a plastic bottle or your DNA. One question that arises when you think of polymers is; what exactly is a polymer? Well, a polymer is a group of small molecules strung together in lengthy repeating chains. These chains can be found in nature as well as in a laboratory. Spider’s silk is a great example of a natural polymer. Its textile strength is stronger than that of high grade steel, and it is as tough as Kevlar. the only problem is that scientists have yet to find a way to produce it artificially.

//Polymers. (1997) [] Polymerization//. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nCfbZwGWK8